Christmastime Dreams
by Miyori999
Summary: The holidays are a low point for Rinne, either his time was consumed with the greedy ghosts of those who didn't get what they wanted, or he was bored to tears. This holiday season would become a little strange for him instead.     T For blood.


This took me forever for me to get the inspiration to finish, considering I started this like a month ago.

Finished in a hurry, it was sitting on my computer just too long. Oneshot of dreams.

Rumiko Takahashi Owns Kyoukai no Rinne and all it's Charecters.

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><p>...<p>

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><p><strong>Christmastime Dreams<strong>

"Okay everyone, do enjoy your Christmas break but don't forget your-" the teacher was abruptly interrupted by the bell, children rushing past him, as he finished "your homework assignments…"

Only one boy remained in the room more than 0.7 seconds after the bell rang- sixteen-year-old Rokudo Rinne. He was slumped over his desk, looking as if he had died on the spot. Luckily, the boy was still breathing, as the teacher would hate to have a student actually die of boredom from his teaching of Chinese history. Another of his students had clawed her way back into the classroom, impeding the outward flow of anxious high-schooler traffic.

"Rokudo-kun, you coming? You've been so quiet this period, I'd almost forgotten… Rokudo-kun?"

Sakura tilted her head to the side with his absence of a response.

"Mamiya-san, since you sit next to him, see to it he doesn't fall asleep in my class."

Sakura nodded. She slowly crossed the room to where the boy sat with his face buried in his arms.

"Rokudo-kun."

...

"Rokudo-kun."

.../...

"Rokudo-kun?"

"I'm here, I'm here, I'll figure out how to get you out of here," Rinne pounded on the ice wall separating the two of them. The bells on the end of Sakura's braids jingled, ringing clear into the crisp snowy air.

"Rokudo-kun…"

"Get back from there, Sakura Mamiya," he commanded.

He swung his sword into a horizontal slice, only just chipping the ice between them. He swung again and again, chipping off bits of ice, but making no real headway in breaking down the frozen prison that held the girl. A growl froze his actions; much like the arctic air froze the breath from the panting boy with the flaming red hair. He slowly turned his back to the girl and her icy prison to stare down the demon that had pursued him up to this point. He gnashed his own teeth as the wolf-like demon bared the row of white razorblades that were its fangs. The beast shook the snow off its horns and charged at the boy. Rinne narrowed his eyes and held his sword in the ready position. The demon's footfalls were quieted by the snow, but in the whole world there seemed to be only that, the sounds from sweet tinkling bells, and the boy's own breath.

The wolf-being drew closer. Fifty meters. Thirty meters. Ten.

Rinne charged silently, with skill and grace beyond his years, white coat trailing behind him, and waited until the last possible second to strike.

Red blood darkened the pristine white fur of the beast, but it did not seem to bother it in the least. It continued on its charge, backing Rinne against the cold ice. He spun around to slice the beast horizontally, but a sickening crack and clang turned the boy's stomach; as did the sudden halt of his sword.

His crimson eyes widened as he took in the fact that his sword was stuck in the ice wall. The beast stumbled this time, allowing Rinne a chance to struggle futilely with his sword. When the beast got to its feet, Rinne realized how fruitless his efforts were and narrowly escaped the demon's attack, leaping to the side. A thundering crash split the air; the demon crashed headfirst into the wall, making Sakura shriek and draw back from the wall further, bells tinkling in her hair. Rokudo looked past the demon at Sakura's now distorted form. Her beautiful face was obscured by substantial cracks running through the ice.

The demon regained its footing and backed up, shaking the injury from its mind even though blood flowed down into its muzzle. Rinne calmly stepped into the position he had just been standing, where the beast had attacked the ice. Sakura looked at the scarlet haired boy as if he were nuts. He mouthed _'It's okay' _to her, and turned to face the demon's headfirst (And hornfirst) charge.

Rinne waited for the opportune moment to jump into the air and narrowly slip between the great horns of the beast as it rammed into the ice wall, shattering it to pieces. The ice clattered with the sound of tiny bells and among the shards was his sword, clattering with a much less pleasant sound. He snatched it up and quickly dispatched the wolf-like creature with a single thrust through the heart. Red spread out over the white ground, creating a perfect match to the bright eyes which looked upon the scene.

Sakura crouched amongst the shards, and she stood only when Rinne called her name.

She stepped carefully around the blood, and ran straight into the sixteen-year-old's chest. He gently placed his hands on her back and shoulder.

"Rokudo-kun?"

"Hm?"

...

"Rokudo-kun."

.../...

"Rokudo-kun. Time to wake up."

The voice that spoke was instantly recognizable to Rinne. It was soft and sweet like the kind of music he missed listening to sometimes. '_If I could just always wake up to this music,' _he thought idly as he opened his eyes to the blurry classroom-and the lovely brown eyes of the girl standing before him. _'And if I could forever wake up to that face,'_ he thought before he finally realized his mind was where it should not have been. He startled out of his seat then, falling sideways onto the floor.

Sakura tilted her head at the peculiar actions of the boy. He thanked his balance for that, at least then embarrassment of falling out of his seat could explain the blush that spread over his face.

The teacher looked over Mamiya's shoulder. "Rokudo, are you alright?"

He merely nodded. He stood and began to gather his things.

The teacher barged in front of Sakura to ask the boy why he was sleeping in class. The boy replied that he was having "family issues" and had not slept the night before. Which was not a lie, he was a Shinigami because of his family, and a rather aggravating situation had presented itself to the boy in the form of ghost destroying Christmas ornaments at a local store.

"We all have our somethings," he told the boy, "but please, leave them at home. Don't let it happen again."

Rokudo nodded. He wrapped his scarf around his neck and proceeded to walk with Sakura back to the old clubhouse.

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><p>Exorcism season was in full bloom. As it turned out, Rinne was not the only one who seemed to despise the holiday season. Ghosts ran rampant during the season of giving, or so it was called. The inactive, harmless spirits chose this time to become evil and seek vengeance on those who had not provided the proper gift or some inapposite nonsense that seemed to fuel the people waltzing around with feigned happiness.<p>

Now, he had not always hated the season. When he was a small child, he loved celebrating with his grandparents. His grandfather would bake, and his grandmother would make paper chains and paper snowflakes with him. They would all sit together and drink hot spice tea after Rinne got home from school, or when he was on vacation and the road iced up, making sledding possible.

Back then he loved this time of year. The change in his demeanour had likely started when he was seven years old and his dad came to visit completely sloshed, raving about some woman dumping him. (Seeing through his guise finally). After that, various ill feelings had accumulated over the years. _'Season on giving? I bet,' _he began to think when realized that the true greed of people was more visible now, even the youngest of children.

He sat half-asleep with his legs under the kotatsu. It was only about eleven in the morning, yet he had been busy nearly all day with a ghost boy who died ice-skating on a pond, and had a grudge against his uncle for not teaching him how to skate. Rokumon sat curled into a ball on Rinne's lap, purring contentedly. Rinne sighed. It was cold, not cold enough to snow, but cold enough for Rinne to be uncomfortable anywhere but under the kotatsu.

A young girl barged into his room then, as always, without knocking.

"Rokudo-kun, are you alright?"

Rokumon flew out from under the table and leapt into the girl's arms shouting: "Sakura-sama! You came!"

"Hi there Rokumon-chan." She scratched the head of the sweet little cat.

Rokudo blinked. "Hm? Did you think I was sick or something?"

"Oh, it's just… I haven't seen you in a few days. I thought you would have come to visit by now."

He squinted in confusion. "I don't just drop in on people uninvited, Sakura Mamiya."

She shook her head. "You need to be invited? Are you a vampire?"

The boy chuckled a bit at that.

"Well," she started, plopping herself onto the floor next to him, "I was on my way over to Miho's, we're going to go Christmas shopping, so I decided to visit…"

She gasped suddenly, and dug through her coat pocket. Rokudo blinked, showing no other outward signs of interest, but nonetheless curious of what Sakura was doing. She pulled out a folded piece of paper; a card; and handed it to Rinne.

"Hm?"

Sakura smiled brightly. Her clear brown eyes were trained on Rinne's own, crimson ones.

"Rika's hosting a party, and since she didn't know where you lived, she sent your card to my house. You'll come right?"

"I-I…um…" He stuttered. That uncomfortable heat rushed to his face again.

"Rokudo-kun, it bothers me that besides when you're working, you never seem to leave here. It would be a nice outing, don't you think?"

"Uh… Sure I guess…"

"Okay then. I'm going to go meet up with Miho now, I'll see you there."

She paused halfway out the door.

"And Rokudo-kun, you can visit me anytime. My mom loves to cook for people. Just before dark alright?"

And without saying another word, Sakura left. Rokudo finally opened up the card.

_Come to my Holiday party! There will food and games, including DDR to Christmas music. _

_December 23__rd,__ 2009 at 4-8pm_

_Lots of fun!_

_~Rika_

On the back of the card was Rika's address, and taped inside the card was a tiny candy cane.

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><p>"Behind you!"<p>

Red hair fluttered into his vision as Rinne turned to see the enormous white bear behind him. The bear reached out with its great paw to where the boy dodged away from. Throwing up powdery snow with his hands, he shuffled back to his feet. He was surprised when he was met, red eye to red eye, with the bear.

Fangs clamped around his forearm. Rokudo snarled in pain. His blood darkened the snow below him. He punched at the bear to let him go, but to no avail. His left-handed punch did not do any damage.

"Rokudo-kun! Don't move," a female voice called out.

He looked over the head of the bear to see the fluttering hem of Sakura's dress as she set down on the back of the bear. She swung the giant axeblade she held and sliced through the bear's neck, severing its head. She looked as if she had been training for this moment all her life, considering the skill that had been put into that single swipe of the blade.

The head slumped off as it separated from the body. Rokudo too, slumped into the snow, still trying to avoid the blood that spurted from the neck of the bear. The teeth of the bear remained embedded into the flesh of the scarlet-haired youth's forearm. The red eyes still gleamed up at Rokudo when he tried to spread the jaws to relieve the pain from his arm. He sat, half slumped in the snow, and shivered from the cold, as well as the from pain in his arm.

Sakura leapt off the body of the bear and rushed over to the boy, dropping her axe on the way. She dropped to the ground in front of Rinne and wrapped her hands around the jaws of the bear, prying them open. Rokudo slipped his arm out of the jaws, before they snapped shut once again.

He looked at the blood covering his twitching limb. He tried to spread his fingers, but it stung too much at the current point.

"Rokudo-kun, pull up your sleeve."

He did as he was told, revealing just how deep the wounds were.

She shook her head.

Rokudo spoke softly then. "You know, with a bit of training you could be a good-"

She shushed him before he could finish.

Sakura pulled out a knife and began to cut off the hem of her red and white striped dress.

"Sakura Mamiya, you don't have to do that."

"We need to get that wrapped up, Rokudo-kun. It's still bleeding." She gingerly used the knife to also cut around his sleeve, cutting it off completely, and she began the careful process of wrapping up Rokudo's bleeding arm. A quiet calm passed over the pair.

"Sakura…Mamiya… I'm sorry…"

"Hm? For what Rokudo-kun?"

He cast his eyes downward-what has become quite common with the boy- and said quietly, "For always bringing you into dangerous situations."

"Oh, stop that," She growl at his arm a little bit. "I wanted to come. I… I wanted to help you after all."

"But-" "Shush," She commanded.

She tied off the knot and looked Rokudo straight in the eye. Her eyes were focused-determined.

"You always do this. I don't know why you're so afraid to ask for help. I… will always be willing to help you, you just need to ask. Know this Rokudo-kun."

She placed her hand, her gentle, warm palm against his cheek. Rokudo exhaled sharply when she drew closer.

"Will you do that? Ask for help if you ever need it?"

He grasped the hand that was at her side and nodded.

Sakura smiled and closed her eyes, giving Rokudo his chance to lean into her aura as well…

...

.../...

Rokudo awoke with a start when a certain black cat jumped off his chest from where it had been sleeping. 1*) Rokudo glared at the cat, who stretched with his back to the boy. He realized in a second that he should not be angry with Rokumon. He was though, angry that he had been woken in the middle of such a… pleasant dream.

No, he could not be thinking that. He slapped a hand over his flushed face. Sakura would never kiss him, he was certain. What had inspired that dream, he wondered. He shivered in the cold, as he had pushed his haori off him while he slept. He knew, with all the thoughts in his head that he would not be able to get back to sleep anyways.

Rokudo had decided he was not going to Rika's party. Yes, Sakura had really wanted him to go, but he figured it was best to avoid her from now on.

"Rinne-sama… You know… Sakura did offer for us to visit her house," Rokumon commented when Rinne's growling stomach had become audible.

"No," he said simply.

"But Rinne-sama… I'm hungry too."

"Rokumon, no."

"But you **were** invited. She said anytime before dark…"

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><p>And so, after a bit of an argument, Rinne wound up knocking at the Mamiya family home. A woman, Sakura's mother answered the door.<p>

"My, if it isn't Rokudo-san. Come in, come in," She smiled brightly at the sixteen-year-old boy with the bright red hair.

"Is Sakura Mamiya home?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, but you just missed her. She went to help Rika set up for the party."

"Oh, then… I won't bother you. I'll leave now." He turned to walk away.

"And where do you think you're going? Come in, you came all this way, even though it's freezing out."

_Freezing? _Rokudo thought. _It's hardly seven degrees out. _

Mrs. Mamiya opened the door for Rinne and he cautiously stepped inside the house.

"Would you like something to eat?" The woman asked of the boy.

"Sure," he nodded.

Mrs. Mamiya squealed suddenly, which freaked out the boy for a second, before he realized she had picked up a certain black kitten.

"Oh, he's so cute! Is he yours?"

"Yeah," Rokudo blinked at the easily excited woman.

"We had fish last night, I'll get you a little piece," she cooed to the kitten.

The boy raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"How about you, Rokudo-san? Would you like a piece of fish too? It's leftovers though."

Rokudo nodded with a bit of enthusiasm this time.

Mrs Mamiya sat Rokudo and Rokumon down with a plate and tiny saucer of reheated fish, and a glass and another tiny saucer of milk.

The phone rang just as Mrs. Mamiya set Rinne's plate down, and she excused herself to answer it. Table manners were then put aside and both kid and cat scarfed down the fish while the woman's back was turned.

The woman walked back into the room just as Rinne finished with the fish.

"Rokudo-san, could you help me with something?"

He nodded and asked what she needed help with.

"Oh, that was Sakura on the phone. She forgot the gift for Rika's parents. I need you to get down a bag of bows in the closet. I'm going to bring it to her."

"I can bring it to her… if you want. My place is in that direction."

"Would you? Oh, that'd be wonderful. You're such a nice boy."

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><p>Rika opened the door to Rinne standing with a present in hand.<p>

"Yay! You did decide to come," the girl said, bouncing happily.

"Sakura! Rokudo-kun's here!" She hollered behind her.

Sakura smiled as she walked up to the door.

Red eyes looked down the street, rather than at the two girls in front of him.

"I won't be staying. I'm just dropping off the present Sakura forgot."

Rika grabbed the boy by the elbow, throwing him off-kilter.

"Oh, come on! Don't be such a party-pooper."

"W-what? No, I-I really just-"

And the door slammed behind him, and an awful feeling of entrapment crept over the boy. He looked around the living room, and a mess of girls were strewn all over the furniture and floor, some chatting, some crowding the DDR game, and some just sitting around boredly. All girls though. Rinne felt even more trapped when he concluded he was the only male in the house.

Fifteen minutes later, he looked back towards the door, where Rika had assigned guards. There were far too many girls in his wake for him to put on his haori and slip out, and every door and window had a girl who seemed to be posted by it. He could barge his way out if he wanted, but Sakura would disapprove of that he was sure.

He stood awkwardly by the doorframe between the kitchen and family room, as girls repeatedly came up to him and asked him questions. Half of these girls were not even from his school. How did Rika keep so many friends? He, after the third girl had come up to him to ask about his hair, (which he certainly hoped was not a way of flirting.) he had resorted to merely "hn"-ing every comment.

Finally after what was possibly the most agonizing thirty minutes Rinne had experienced in the past year, Sakura came up to him under the doorframe.

"Rokudo-kun… You don't look very happy."

"Hm?"

"You know, uh, you don't have to say here if you don't want to."

Sakura looked about the room.

"I didn't realize you'd be the only guy here, I'm sorry if it seemed like I pressured you to stay."

"S-Sakura Mamiya," he stuttered, "that's not how I feel at all. I don't feel like you forced me into anyth-"

"oo-o-ooh," Rika interrupted Rokudo. "Look who's under the mistletoe together. Finally, a girl and a boy."

Rinne raised a brow and looked above him where a small plant was tacked to the doorframe.

A crowd had begun to collect because of Rika's loud outburst.

Rika smiled. "Now you two have to kiss!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Rika, don't say that."

"But Sakura-chan, don't you like Rokudo-kun?"

Sakura shrugged. "No, you know we're just classmates."

"But Rokudo-kun definitely likes you. Don't you Rokudo-kun?"

Rinne stood as a statue, frozen in place.

"Why don't you kiss Sakura, hm Rokudo-kun?"

Rokudo cracked the ice when a blush slowly crept into his cheeks.

A quiet, giddy chatter crept over the small crowd of female onlookers. Sakura, confused with what she heard looked up at the boy.

"That's not true, is it Rokudo-kun?" Sakura asked.

"Um…"

The sixteen-year-old boy looked at all the fellow teenagers surrounding him. He was beginning to feel panic set in. How could he tell her his feelings with all these people around? And if he said he did not, how would he deal with lying to Sakura? What would she think of a liar? Well, to lie about that sort of thing anyway.

Rokumon (who had crawled in through the window) saw that his master was in trouble, took action. He rubbed against a girl's leg, drawing her attention to the tiny kitten-form he was in. Luckily for Rinne, the girl squealed when she saw the kitten, drawing the attention of the rest of the girls long enough for the boy to slip out the door.

Sakura looked around for the boy, and instantly felt guilty when she discovered the kitten was none other than Rokumon-chan. Rinne really did not want to be here, and she had (along with Rika) practically dragged him in the door, after he was merely doing a favour for her mother. _'He even protested against it…' _She did not know he would feel so uncomfortable around all girls. Of course he would rather hang out with guys.

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><p>Rokumon was not there to warn Rinne of the girl marching up the steps to the clubhouse. She startled Rinne by barging into his room and tripping over his box of paper roses, falling face first onto the wooden floor.<p>

"Sakura Mamiya! You okay?"

"Are you?" she asked, lifting her head off the floor.

Rinne shot her a puzzled look as he leaned over her to help her off the floor.

She shooed him away and sat up on her own.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened. I didn't think you'd have such a terrible time."

"W…what _exactly_ are you talking about?" Rinne blinked.

The emphasis on 'exactly' threw the girl off a touch. She tilted her head to the side slightly.

"The party…is there something else you're mad at me about?" she blinked down at her knees wondering what else she could have done to the boy.

"Wait? Mad? You think…"

He placed a hand of her shoulder. "I'm not mad. I don't think I could ever be mad at you, Sakura Mamiya."

She looked up at him. His red eyes were serious, but not angry.

"Well," she started, "I still think I should apologize for Rika. She should never have said those things. You were the only boy there, it was only a matter of time until a girl stepped-"

"Stop."

"What?" She blinked.

"What's wrong now?"

"Its…not really that. I feel a bit guilty. Your apology-"

"Makes you feel bad? How so?"

Rinne froze. It was as if the girl were reading his mind. He opened his mouth to speak, but he realized what she was asking suddenly and snapped his jaw shut.

"Why do you feel guilty?"

'_Why do I?…Because for a second, I actually wanted to kiss you.'_ He really hoped he was not thinking aloud, because a twinge of heat spread to his cheeks from his thought.

"I can't answer that."

He knew right away, that was the exact wrong thing for him to say.

"Um," was all that Sakura said before she drew herself away from Rinne to think for the seconds it took Rinne to conclude dots had be connected.

"Rokudo-kun… Does this mean-"

Rokudo shook his head in protest.

"That you actually _wanted _to kiss me?"

Before turning a bright red, the boy managed to spin himself around and face away from the girl.

"That's not true," he lied blatantly.

"Ro-What are you doing?"

"I'm not doing-"

He stopped when Sakura's face below his. She was leaning awkwardly next to him so that she could see his downturned face.

"You're blushing," she commented on the (now) _quite_ obvious.

"I never knew. You do like me." She sat back up, pondering her realization.

Rokudo bit his tongue. His mouth was only getting him in trouble at that point. He wondered if Sakura was appalled with this fact, that he liked her. He thought perhaps she would shut him out completely. He hoped she would still be willing to talk to him after this; he did not exactly have any other friends.

All thoughts left him when he saw thin, delicate fingers pass in front of his eyes. His eyes widened when he felt the warmth of those fingertips on his jaw, and his head was tilted to face the lovely young girl beside him. She smiled, and he just blinked.

Thoughts returned to him and he knew this was another of his dreams. It had to be. No way would Sakura accept this admission. And no way would she smile like that at him.

She drew her face a little closer to Rinne's and his brain stuttered into uselessness once again. She quickly and almost unexpectedly pecked Rinne on the cheek.

Rinne sighed, relieved that was all. It was not his startling dream coming true, but merely a more understandable part of reality.

She opened her eyes and dropped her hand from the boy's face.

"I figured, if it's a mistletoe kiss, that doesn't mean it has to be on the lips right?"

The boy nodded slowly.

She pulled up her knees and rested her head on them, still looking at the boy.

"I don't know what you've got set aside with Tamako-san, but if you're free, you can come eat dinner with my family tomorrow. It wouldn't bother me at all. I'd like to have you over in fact."

Her big brown eyes were winning him over again. Staring innocently, making him willing to do anything for her. Not that Rokudo minded.

"Sure. What time?"

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><p><em>A dream is a wish your heart makes <em>~ Cinderella

Like I said, finished in a hurry. Please Comment.

1*). My cat likes to sleep on my chest and stomach.


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